BUA Institution

Freie Universität

Description of Research

I'm interested in the role objects play in (mainly francophone and germanophone) modern and contemporary literature and particularly in how shifts of value are narrated and created by texts.

Where has your career been based until now?

Biel/Bienne (Switzerland), Leipzig and Berlin (Germany)

Why Berlin?

I enjoy being surrounded by historical places I got to know through literature, and by literature I got to know through the people that are writing it. That said, I live in Leipzig and commute to Berlin.

What fascinates you about your research area?

I believe that object biographies (or narrations) "can make salient what otherwise might remain obscure", as the anthropologist Igor Kopytoff puts it, and that researching the way human-object relations are narrated tells us more about societal structures and values than focusing on the often "distended" hero of the novel, to quote the writer Sergei Tretyakov.

How did you become interested in your specific topic?

Originally trained as a creative writer at the German Literature Institute Leipzig, I found it quite complicated to narrate the relationships humans are having with other humans, so I grew more interested in the relationships humans have with things. After frequenting reading circles that focused on historical materialism, I decided to pursue a master in comparative literature at Freie Universität Berlin, where I was introduced to the concept of new materialism and object biographies.

What is your preferred waz to communicate your research to the broader public or other specific sectors beyond academia? Where can we see, hear or read you next?

I'm only at the beginning of my academic career, however I frequently work with practicing artists and writers and organize cultural events in Leipzig. I see myself combining the work I do outside of academia with the work I do inside academia. In general, I post upcoming events on my Instagram.

If you could have a radical career change for a week, what would it be?

I haven't fully given up on the dream of becoming a documentary filmmaker. Although my research focuses on objects, I'm still a people person.